Phil Donahue on His 2003 Firing from MSNBC, When Liberal Network Couldn’t Tolerate Antiwar Voices

Phil Donahue on His 2003 Firing from MSNBC, When Liberal Network Couldn’t Tolerate Antiwar Voices...



In 2003, the legendary television host Phil Donahue was fired from his prime-time MSNBC talk show during the run-up to the U.S. invasion of Iraq. The problem was not Donahue’s ratings, but rather his views: An internal MSNBC memo warned Donahue was a "difficult public face for NBC in a time of war," providing "a home for the liberal antiwar agenda at the same time that our competitors are waving the flag at every opportunity." Donahue joins us to look back on his firing 10 years later. "They were terrified of the antiwar voice," Donahue says.

Phil Donahue: "We Have an Emergency in the Media and We Have to Fix It"

Phil Donahue–one of the best-known talk show hosts in the history of television in the United States–joins us in our firehouse studio to discuss the state of the media in this country. Donahue’s show was on the air for more than 29 years. In 2003, he was fired by MSNBC because he was allowing antiwar voices on the air. 

Before Jerry Springer created a show that looked more like a wrestling match than a talk show; before Oprah was a household name and before the explosion of cable news networks and the 24 hour talk show cycle, there was a daily program that millions tuned into every week for a national discussion on a wide range of social, political and personal issues. The show was simply called "Donahue" and was hosted by a bespectacled man with silver hair who would run around the studio handing the microphone to members of the audience to give them their say on the issues of the day. For many people watching or listening right now, it is probably unnecessary to say that that man was Phil Donahue. Throughout the 1980s, he was probably one of the most trusted personalities in this country.

Donahue first took to the airwaves in 1965. He hosted his radio program "Conversation Piece" in Dayton, Ohio. Two years later on November 6, The Donahue Show premiered on television with atheist Madalyn Murray O’Hair as its first guest. During the 1992 Presidential campaign, Donahue was credited with expanding the role of daytime television by featuring an unprecedented debate between then-candidates Bill Clinton and Jerry Brown. "The Donahue Show" was on the air for 29 years. In that time, Phil Donahue hosted more than 6,000 shows.

After years of being away from hosting that daily, national discussion, Donahue returned to TV in 2002 as the host of a nightly debate-style program on MSNBC. For many people, the show was a much-needed breath of fresh air on the cable networks, increasingly dominated by right-wing pundits and media personalities. Antiwar voices long kept off these cable news channels were suddenly given a seat in the forbidden studios to take part in a national debate about the so-called war on terror.
Here’s an example–this was in the lead-up to the invasion of Iraq.

• Phil Donahue on MSNBC interviewing Harry Belafonte.

Donahue was on in the same time slot as Fox’s Bill O"Reilly. But the show didn’t last long. In fact, it didn’t even last a year, even though it was MSNBC"s top-rated program. When Donahue was fired, the network moved to hire a string of right-wing hosts.
Phil Donahue joins us today in our studio.

• Phil Donahue, one of the best-known talk show hosts in the history of television in the United States. His show was on the air for more than 29 years. In 2003, he was fired by MSNBC because he was allowing antiwar voices on the air.

Updated Link List - July 15 2016

Media's Iraq War Coverup In A Nutshell

• Amanpour On Iraq: Where were the journalists?
• Beltway Media Covers Up Reporting On A Bi-Partisan Senate Report Proving We Were Misled Into The Iraq War By The Bush Administration & Jon Stewart Makes Fun Of The Media's Coverup
• The Iraq Effect (2007): New Study Finds 600% Rise in Terrorism Since US Invasion of Iraq
• The Creation Of ISIS Can Be Traced Directly To The Actions Of Jeb Bush's Brother & Dick Cheney
• Dick Cheney Said Iraq Was A 'Black Hole' In 1994 & 'Easily Conquerable' In 2002, Contradicting Himself. Media Blows Story.
• Phil Donahue on His 2003 Firing from MSNBC, When Liberal Network Couldn’t Tolerate Antiwar Voices
• The "Beltway Media" Is Covering Up The The Truth About The Iraq War Again & This Time There Is No Escaping That Fact (Turns out I was wrong the media can always escape by shutting up about anything they want)
• Jon Stewart Smashes CNN, MSNBC, & Fox News For Their Hypocrisy In Misleading The Public Over The Iraq War & Not Admitting It
• Jon Stewart Slams The Media for Continuing To Not Report Properly on The Iraq War... AGAIN!
• Clear Proof That MSNBC Didn't Cover The Iraq War As A Media Should (Same Goes for CNN & Fox News)
• Jon Stewart Points Out That Obama Was Following An Agreement Bush Signed When He Withdrew From Iraq (Which GOP Are Claiming Is The Reason For The Creation Of ISIS)
• Jon Stewart Purposely Proves That The GOP Is A "War Party" & Seeks To Limit Presidential Power For Peace But Seeks Unlimited Presidential Power For War

I SMASH Corporate Media!!!

• Gretchen Carlson Files A Sexual Harassment Lawsuit Against Roger Ailes (Fox News Oligarch)
• Daily Show: A Compilation Of Jon Stewart On Fox News
• Daily Show: Jon Stewart On MSNBC (A Compilation)
• Daily Show: A Compilation Of Jon Stewart on CNN
• I Smash The Media: A Look At How Easy Is It To Buy The Media & "Scientific" Studies
• Larry Wilmore Skewers The GOP & Fox News Over Their Use Of The Label "Radical Islam" Using Obama's Words
• I Quickly Slam Hannity On His Hypocrisy & Promotion Of Terrorism Through Petulant Labeling Designed To Create Conflict Not Resolve Them (i.e. "Radical Islam" As Opposed To "Terrorist" OR "Madman" Or "Mass Shooter")
• I Prove, With An Ethnic Spanish Professor, That The Media IS Misconstruing Trump's Words On Mexicans Showing Thier Unconscious Racism.... Using Lawrence O Donnell, Rachel Maddow, Nightly Show & Articles
• I Smash The Liberal Media On Their False Narrative Of Trump's Judge Controversy (Chris Hayes, Maddow & Clinton)
• Rachel Maddow Defends The Friend Of A Mass Murderer Accepted As A War Criminal In Other Parts Of The World That Are Not The United States Because She's A Woman
• Chris Hayes & The Rest Of The Liberal Media Push A Con Artists Party's View About Trump i.e. That Marco Rubio & The GOP Aren't The Con Artists It's Trump! (Memory Loss?)
• I Prove That Lawrence O Donnell Is Too Biased & Weird To Be Trusted With News Of Any Sort (Elizabeth Warren Helps Prove This One)
• (Dem Primary) Super Delegates Have Done Exactly What Samantha Bee Said They Would Do, i.e. Put A 'Brake On A Non-Establishment Candidate'... Why Is That OK? OR Samantha Bee & Rachel Maddow Prove They Don't Understand Super Delegates... Are They Too In Love With Hillary To See The Truth?
• The Ultimate Collection Of 50 Fox News Lies Exposed By The Daily Show & Backed By Politifact
• I Smash Lawrence O'Donnell On His Utter Hypocrisy Or Stupidity. Only A Lie Detector Could Determine Which.
• Steve Kornacki Points Out That Hillary Clinton's Supporters Are Being Hypocritical About Bernie Sanders & His Supporters. If They Were To Look At Their Own Candidates History They Would Find She Did The Same
• Clear Proof That MSNBC Didn't Cover The Iraq War As A Media Should (Same Goes for CNN & Fox News)
• Beltway Media Covers Up Reporting On A Bi-Partisan Senate Report Proving We Were Misled Into The Iraq War By The Bush Administration & Jon Stewart Makes Fun Of The Media's Coverup
• Rachel Maddow On The Iraq War Lies Ignored In Republican Campaign Coverage By The Beltway Media
• The "Beltway Media" Is Covering Up The The Truth About The Iraq War Again & This Time There Is No Escaping That Fact
• Jon Stewart Slams The Media for Continuing To Not Report Properly on The Iraq War... AGAIN!
• Jon Stewart Smashes CNN, MSNBC, & Fox News For Their Hypocrisy In Misleading The Public Over The Iraq War & Not Admitting It
• As The Media Laments The Upcoming Loss Of Jon Stewart From The Daily Show, They Avoid Mentioning The Episode Of The Day Before
• Phil Donahue on His 2003 Firing from MSNBC, When Liberal Network Couldn’t Tolerate Antiwar Voices
• Collections of past links on politics

2016's Third Option

• The Third Party Running In The 2016 Elections Is The Libertarian Party. Check Out The CNN Libertarian Townhall
• The Third Party Ticket Just Needs To Get To 15% To Get In On The Presidential Debates. Libertarian Participation In The 2016 Presidential Debates Could End The Two Party Stranglehold On American Politics Once & For All!
• So, Who Do You Want? The "She-Wolf Of Wall Street" (Trevor Noah) Who Destabilized Two More Countries To Add To The Terrorist Havens The GOP Set Up In Iraq & Afghanistan OR A Third Option?
• How Increasing The Minimum Wage Will Boost The Economy - Many People Think "Demand & Supply" Is Of Only One Type But There Are Actually Many Types Of Demand & Supply.
• Trevor Noah Slams Hillary On Telling Aides To Shut Up About Her Email... Hillary's Judgement Is So Bad & Aristocratic It's Scary. Lets just keep Obama For A 3rd Term? Electing Hillary Is Basically Electing The Clintons For A Third Term Anyways.
• Can Trevor Noah Be Turned to the Libertarian Side? Trevor Noah Agrees With Me That We May Be Better Off With Obama Rather Than Hillary Or Trump...

Trump VS Hillary

• Trevor Noah Notices Trump Thinks Muslims Have Hive Minds Like The Borg From Star Trek...Has Trump Been Hypnotized By Fox News?
• Morning Joe: Trump Has To Back Away From The Muslim Ban - Correct!
• I Answer Trevor Noah's Questions About Donald Trump's "Muslim Ban"
• A Piece Of Evidence Of Hannity & Co. Helping ISIS With It's Propaganda To Hide Thier Crimes
• I Eviscerate The Daily Show By Comparing Trump's History With Women WIth Hillary's History With Women
• Rachel Maddow Defends The Friend Of A Mass Murderer Accepted As A War Criminal In Other Parts Of The World That Are Not The United States Because She's A Woman
• Grace Parra Says She Sees Trump As A Murderer While Supporting An ACTUAL Murderer - What Is Going On? Has Everyone Gone Mad?
• I Prove, With An Ethnic Spanish Professor, That The Media IS Misconstruing Trump's Words On Mexicans Showing Thier Unconscious Racism.... Using Lawrence O Donnell, Rachel Maddow, Nightly Show & Articles
• The Case For Dis-Qualifying Hillary Clinton From The Race For The White House Based ON The Spirit Of The Third Term Law (22nd Amendment To The Constitution)
• Madeline Albright, Lawrence O Donnell & The Daily Show Provide Material For An Initial Look At America's Foreign Policy & It's Problems (Hillary To Trump To Bernie Sanders)
• Jon Stewart: "Hillary Clinton Deleted 30,000 Emails!" ... Huckabee & Mitt Romney Did Too! Is This Not Suspicious?
• John Oliver Talks About The Costs Of Trump's Border Wall Idea & I Offer Solutions To Make It Cheaper, Electrify The Fence & Make Mexico Pay For It... Eventually.
• Hillary & Obama Are Following The Advice Of A Madman (& War Criminal, i.e. Henry Kissinger) ... They Have Destabilized Countries Like Bush & Cheney Did!
• Hillary Clinton Helped Promote Mass Incarceration & Voted For The Iraq Oil War - A Decision That Destroyed Hundreds of Thousands Of Lives
• Hillary Clinton Passed A Bill To Keep Poor Immigrants In Slavery & Helped Put Black People In Jail. How Is She Not Being Called A Racist?
• Even Obama Wouldn't Trust Hillary Clinton With Trade Agreements Such As NAFTA & The TPP (& Obama Negotiated ON The TPP In Secret!)
• Hillary & Bill Clinton Have Already Been Co-Presidents For 8 Years. Electing Them Again Goes Against the Spirit Of The Law, i.e. NO THIRD TERMS!
• It's Racist Not To Cover & Spread Hillary Clinton's ATROCIOUS Record On Race. African American's Are Being Deceived AGAIN!
• Hillary Is Not Qualified Because She Always Makes Atrocious Decisions That Pull The Country To The Right, NOT The Left & Harm Citizens Over Business Interests
• Hillary VS Trump: A Polite Person With A Record VS A Rude Person Without A Record. Lets See What That Might Look Like Shall We?

Old Links:

From Bill Moyers: How big money and big media have coupled to create a ‘Disney World’ of democracy http://www.culturesocietyblog.com/2013/03/from-bill-moyers-how-big-money-and-big.html

Bush's Legacy: A Bill Moyers documentary exploring how mainstream media failed to question the war in Iraq http://www.culturesocietyblog.com/2013/03/bushs-legacy-bill-moyers-documentary.html

Amanpour On Iraq: Where were the journalists? http://www.culturesocietyblog.com/2013/03/amanpour-on-iraq-where-were-journalists.html

Breaking: Iraq Spies Lies Exposed! & Tony Blair Ignores His Own Spy Agencies! http://www.culturesocietyblog.com/2013/03/breaking-iraq-spies-lies-exposed-tony.html

Bush's Legacy: Massacres, War Crimes, Neo-Nazi's, Murder & Terrorism http://www.culturesocietyblog.com/2013/03/bushs-legacy-massacres-war-crimes-neo.html

BBC-Guardian Exposé Uses WikiLeaks to Link Iraq Torture Centers to U.S. Col. Steele & Gen. Petraeus http://www.culturesocietyblog.com/2013/03/bbc-guardian-expose-uses-wikileaks-to.html

Bush's Legacy: New Iraq Oil Law To Open Iraq’s Oil Reserves to Western Companieshttp://www.culturesocietyblog.com/2013/03/bushs-legacy-new-iraq-oil-law-to-open.html

Bush's Legacy: Fired Army Whistleblower Receives $970K for Exposing Halliburton No-Bid Contracts in Iraq http://www.culturesocietyblog.com/2013/03/bushs-legacy-fired-army-whistleblower.html

Bush's Legacy: Dahr Jamail Returns to Iraq to Find Rampant Torture and a Failed State Living in "Utter Devastation" http://www.culturesocietyblog.com/2013/03/bushs-legacy-dahr-jamail-returns-to.html

Bush's Legacy: Ten Years Later, U.S. Has Left Iraq With Mass Displacement & Epidemic of Birth Defects, Cancers http://www.culturesocietyblog.com/2013/03/bushs-legacy-en-years-later-us-has-left.html

The Halliburton Agenda: The Politics of Oil and Money http://www.culturesocietyblog.com/2013/03/the-halliburton-agenda-politics-of-oil.html

The Iraq Effect (2007): New Study Finds 600% Rise in Terrorism Since US Invasion of Iraq http://www.culturesocietyblog.com/2013/03/the-iraq-effect-2007-new-study-finds.html

Democracy Now! Iraq War Timeline Recaps a Decade of Independent Reporting on Occupation and Protest http://www.culturesocietyblog.com/2013/03/democracy-now-iraq-war-timeline-recaps.html